Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.

The Commonwealth Fund:
Income Disparities In Chronic And Behavioral Health
People with depression, substance abuse problems, or other behavioral health issues also often have chronic medical conditions like obesity, hypertension, or diabetes. This “co-occurring” of conditions is far more likely to befall people with low incomes than those with higher incomes. When people have both behavioral and chronic health conditions, those with low incomes spend more on their care than people with higher incomes. This disparity may reflect greater severity of disease as well as poorer access to care. (Cunningham, Green and Braun, 2/26)

JAMA Dermatology:
Barriers To Adherence With Acne Medications And Physician Intervention
Participants ... reported cost as the major barrier to initiating therapy. Despite anticipating this barrier, they rarely brought up costs with physicians during the initial visit and generally did not expect their physician to be knowledgeable in this area. Although patients experienced inconvenience and frustration when unable to fill their prescriptions, this experience did not appear to negatively affect their satisfaction with the prescribing physician. Nevertheless, warning patients that the preferred medication may be expensive, having a plan of action if patients were unable to fill the prescription, and securing the patient’s commitment to the plan were described as actions that the physicians could take to improve primary adherence. (Ryskina, Goldberg, Lott et al, 2/28)

Urban Institute:
The Potential Impact Of Short-Term Limited-Duration Policies On Insurance Coverage, Premiums, And Federal Spending
Importantly, this change would be implemented on top of an array of other significant policy changes made since the beginning of 2017. We analyze the implications of the 2017 policy changes relative to the ACA as originally designed and implemented, in addition to the potential consequences of the proposed expansion to short-term limited-duration policies. In estimating the effects of these changes on insurance coverage, premiums, and federal spending, we take into account the variations in state circumstances and state-specific laws on short-term plans. (Blumberg, Buettgens and Wang, 2/26)

The Commonwealth Fund:
Americans' Views Health Insurance End Of Turbulent Year
The Affordable Care Act’s 2018 open enrollment period came at the end of a turbulent year in health care. The Trump administration took several steps to weaken the ACA’s insurance marketplaces. Meanwhile, congressional Republicans engaged in a nine-month effort to repeal and replace the law’s coverage expansions and roll back Medicaid. Nevertheless, 11.8 million people had selected plans through the marketplaces by the end of January, about 3.7 percent fewer than the prior year. There was an overall increase in enrollment this year in states that run their own marketplaces and a decrease in those states that rely on the federal marketplace. (Collins, Gunja, Doty et al, 3/1)

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